Flourishing in the World Podcast

Mark Bonica
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  • Updated Monthly

An exploration of human flourishing and living a worthy life. markbonica.substack.com

  1. 09/28/2025

    Toward a Worthy Life, with NotebookLM

    Today’s guest is the free Google AI app, NotebookLM. A colleague introduced me to the app earlier this week, and I was intrigued. I uploaded four podcasts and sixteen essays from my Flourishing in the World project that I thought were representative and asked it to make a summary podcast, which is one of its several capabilities. I was blown away with how well it integrated, summarized, and really seemed to see the throughline of my project. It actually gave me some insights that I hadn’t thought of yet and will be writing about more in the future. I’d love to hear your feedback on the app’s work and of course on the project itself. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  2. 04/13/2025

    A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Journey with Kevin Watson

    Welcome to Episode #12 of Flourishing in the World. In this episode I have the honor of interviewing Kevin Watson, the owner and senior instructor at Kevin Watson Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you read my newsletter, you might recognize his name, as this is where I have been training in BJJ for the last two years. I wanted to talk to Kevin because, as a student of organizational culture and leadership, I have been impressed by the warm, welcoming culture he has created in his martial arts school. I think Kevin efforts embody the three C’s of Meaning that I often write about that contribute to a worthy life - Competence, Connection, and Contribution, and while we don’t explicitly discuss these during the podcast, they come out pretty clearly in our conversation. Kevin talks about how his jiu-jitsu journey has helped him become a better version of himself, helping him to overcome anxiety and other challenges. As an instructor, he seeks to help other people on their own journey toward being a better version of themselves. Flourishing in the World is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Links: Kevin Watson Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu https://www.kwbjj.com/ Kevin Watson’s Bio https://www.kwbjj.com/kevin-watson-head-instructor.html Marcelo Alonso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu https://www.mabjj.com/ Listen and Subscribe to the Podcast on: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: Thanks for reading Flourishing in the World! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  3. 01/05/2025

    Playful (and joyful) learning with Dr. Kim Nesbitt

    Welcome to Episode #11 of Flourishing in the World, a podcast exploring topics related to personal and professional growth, and working toward living a worthy life. I am excited to share this interview with my colleague, Dr. Kim Nesbitt. Dr. Nesbitt is a psychologist and associate professor in the department of Human Development and Family Studies here at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Nesbitt and I discuss her research on playful learning, a pedagogical approach that seeks to incorporate play to achieve educational goals. As we discuss in the podcast, playful learning is an approach that tries to tap into children's natural curiosity to create meaningful and joyful learning experiences. Thanks for reading Flourishing in the World! This post is public so feel free to share it. Also listen and subscribe to Flourishing in the World on * Apple Podcasts * Spotify Links: UNH Receives $2.3M in Grant Funding to Improve Early Childhood Learning in NH and Beyond https://chhs.unh.edu/blog/2024/03/unh-receives-23m-grant-funding-improve-early-childhood-learning-nh-beyond Making Schools Work: Bringing the Science of Learning to Joyful Classroom Practice https://amzn.to/3DwOubN Investigating the contributions of active, playful learning to student interest and educational outcomes https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691823001592 Making schools work: An equation for active playful learning https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00405841.2023.2202136 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  4. 09/15/2024

    Aquinas and De Regno with Dr. Susan Siggelakis

    Welcome to Episode #10 of Flourishing in the World, a podcast exploring topics related to personal and professional growth, and working toward living a worthy life. I am excited to share this interview with my colleague, Dr. Susan Siggelakis. Dr. Siggelakis is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science here at the University of New Hampshire, as well as the director of the UNH Justice Studies program. In this podcast, Dr. Siggelakis and I discuss St. Thomas Aquinas’s short book, De Regno ad Regem Cypri, or in English, On Kingship to the King of Cyprus. We also discuss the importance of Aquinas as a transitional figure between the late Medieval period and the Early Renaissance, and the value of studying an 800 year old text on political philosophy. Also listen and subscribe to Flourishing in the World on * Apple Podcasts * Spotify This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  5. 05/26/2024

    Thrive! The Psychology Behind Achieving Professional Success with Dr. Jim Jawahar

    Welcome to Episode #9 of Flourishing in the World, a podcast exploring topics related to personal and professional growth, and working toward living a worthy life. I am excited to share this interview with Dr. Jim Jawahar, Professor and Chair of the Department of Management at New Mexico State University. Dr. Jawahar is the author of the new book, Thrive! The Psychology Behind Achieving Professional Success, which is the subject of our interview. Jawahar explores eight important theories that help individuals thrive in their work and personal lives in a series of narrative vignettes, which makes this a very readable but deep book. Also listen and subscribe to Flourishing in the World on * Apple Podcasts * Spotify This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

    Thrive! The Psychology Behind Achieving Professional Success with Dr. Jim Jawahar

  6. 05/05/2024

    Change and Continuity in Childhood with Dr. Julia Rodriguez

    Welcome to Episode #8 of Flourishing in the World, a podcast exploring topics related to personal and professional growth, and working toward living a worthy life. I am excited to share this interview with my colleague Dr. Julia Rodriguez, Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Rodriguez specializes in the study of Latin American History and the History of Science and Medicine. She has recently developed a course at UNH called Global History of Childhood and Youth, and in this podcast we discuss change and continuity in our conceptions of childhood. Some of the books/articles we reference: * Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood ( https://amzn.to/4a1G46W ) * The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls ( https://amzn.to/44rSbZC ) * Our World in Data, Child and Infant Mortality ( https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality ) Also listen and subscribe to Flourishing in the World on * Apple Podcasts * Spotify This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  7. 04/07/2024

    Negotiations and Trust with Dr. Rachel Campagna

    Welcome to Episode #7 of Flourishing in the World, a podcast exploring topics related to personal and professional growth, and working toward living a worthy life. I am excited to share this interview with my colleague Dr. Rachel Campagna, the Chair of the Management Department here at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Campagna is a scholar of trust and negotiation, and in this podcast we discuss what trust is, what it means to be trustworthy, how we negotiate constantly throughout our lives, and the importance of negotiation for a flourishing life. Thanks for reading Flourishing in the World! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Some of her papers we reference: * How to Negotiate at Work: From Job Offers to Raises (audio) ( https://amzn.to/3PU6u3n ) * After the deal: Talk, trust building and the implementation of negotiated agreements (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597811000045 ) * Strategic consequences of emotional misrepresentation in negotiation: The blowback effect. (https://unh.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=2015-56316-001&site=eds-live ) * The (mostly) robust influence of initial trustworthiness beliefs on subsequent behaviors and perceptions (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00187267211002905 ) During the podcast, we talk about a particular episode of the British game show, Golden Balls. A YouTube link to the video is here: Radio Lab later interviewed the two contestants about this wild outcome. You can find the episode here: https://radiolab.org/podcast/golden-rule Also listen and subscribe to Flourishing in the World on * Apple Podcasts * Spotify This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

  8. 04/04/2024

    Voice Over: willing good for others

    Substack is suggesting writers consider doing a voice over of their newsletters as a different way of engaging subscribers. This probably won’t work with RWL, and I’m not sure it will always work with the Flourishing in the World newsletter, but I thought this week’s newsletter is relatively readable, so I thought I would give it a shot. Let me know what you think. If you like it, I’ll keep doing it. It will probably come out a few days after the newsletter if I make it a regular thing. Please click the like button or comment to let me know if you would like me to turn this into a podcast feed. OK – here we go… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit markbonica.substack.com

    Voice Over: willing good for others
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An exploration of human flourishing and living a worthy life. markbonica.substack.com

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